infolinks

20110608

Well I recently rewatched eXistenZ, one of my favorite David Cronenberg flicks and it got me thinking about dream or reality ending that most recently got the Interwebs buzzing because of Inception. As much as the ambiguous open endedness ending forces the audience to use their imagination, it also can be said it's slightly irritating when you don't get a satisfactory conclusion.

I've only thought up a few recent flicks with the dream/reality ending and here are my thoughts if it was either yay or nay. SPOILERS AHOY! Starting with the most recent....

the jaded viewer says: As I wrote originally, I think he's still dreaming. But the ending here fits in perfectly. It works well because it didn't come out of nowhere. The whole movie is about the nature of dreams so being left with wondering if the ending was all a dream seems logical enough.

Prognosis: YAY

2.) American Psycho

the jaded viewer says: I'm still confused by the entire film. But the one thing we all had to decide was whether or not Patrick Bateman's murders were all dreams/psychosis or real. I felt if they weren't real we were totally jipped. I'm going Nay on this one. The movie as a whole was solid without the twisty twizzler all a dream ending.Prognosis: NAY3.) eXistenZ

the jaded viewer says: Like The Matrix, it's the "Are we still in the game/virtual world?" ending. I love this flick and the ending is completely WTF but somehow works on the levels it's built throughout.Prognosis: YAY

4.) Total Recall

the jaded viewer says: Not a dream per say but more a memory implanted dream. Does Arnold kill the bad guys, score the hot girl with 3 tits...err I mean the athletic girl and save Mars?I'm hoping he does...for real but leaving it open made me feel cheated. I'm going with Nay.

Prognosis: NAY

Know of any other movies with dream vs reality endings? What do you think if they end it as a dream? Are they cheating the viewer? Do you think these endings work?